Weekend Roundup: New WWE Tryouts, NXT Talent Show, Lesnar Update, Two Surprise Debuts Planned for Slammiversary, Indies

WWE

• Indie wrestlers Jamie Hayter and Skye Smitson reportedly were both recently invited for tryouts by WWE for their NXT UK brand, according to Revolution Pro Wrestling. As a result of both accepting WWE’s tryout offers, RevPro announced that their scheduled match has been dropped from the card of their Live At The Cockpit 51 event on July 4th and Hayter has been stripped of her RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship.
• Fightful Select reported that NXT officials held a talent show for their NXT brand this past Wednesday at WWE’s Performance Center. It was reported that their sources stated that attendance was mandatory for NXT talent and was seen as an attempt to boost morale within NXT’s locker room.
• WWE filed a trademark for “Elektra Lopez” on June 21st for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• WWE also filed a trademark for “Hachiman” on June 22nd for similar purposes to the USPTO.
• WWE recently gave new in-ring names to four NXT developmental talent based on a recent update made to their Performance Center website. Harlem Bravado will now be going under the new ring name of Andre Chase, Drew and Jacob Kasper will now be known as Brutus Creed and Julius Creed, and Avery Taylor will now be known as Jacy Jayne.
• As noted before, Ridge Holland has been out of action for the NXT brand since October of 2020 due to several leg-related injuries. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Holland was recently seen at WWE’s Performance Center undergoing training for his potential return to the ring.
• Jeff Hardy reportedly is currently expected to use his “No More Words” song as his new entrance theme for WWE shows starting in mid-July, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Shayna Baszler gave her thoughts on her current feud with Alexa Bliss and the online criticisms towards their feud on RAW. Baszler stated “It’s always been a constant juggling act, and that’s not just on Raw. That’s also my time in NXT and the indies. I come from a very old-school professional wrestling tradition. Josh Barnett and Billy Robinson were my main coaches, and they’re really, really old-school. Back in Billy’s day, the wrestling mentality was that you weren’t going to beat someone in the ring until people believed you could beat them out on the street. It was a very different mindset, and that’s just not how professional wrestling is presented today. It’s been a juggling act to stay true to my martial lineage in professional wrestling, that style I bring where people believe what I do. It’s two-sided. It’s special. There are wrestlers that work for 20 years to build that legitimacy in the eyes of the fans, and I have it when I come through the curtain. It’s also a curse. Not everyone on the roster knows how to deal with that style and mindset. I always think about Billy when I get in the ring,” Baszler says. “After he passed away, I remember Josh saying, ‘At the end of the day, if Billy would look at it and nod his head, then you’re doing fine.’ I hope Billy would be understanding that I’m trying to do this balancing act between my old-school, pure wrestling style and the way it’s presented on TV today.”
• Baszler continued stating “I need to show that I can be counted on to nail whatever it is I’m being asked to do. It’s easy to be a badass tyrant like I was in NXT. I can totally fit that role. After establishing myself as that, it’s important to show I can cover a wide range of what professional wrestling is today. It’s like music. Some people like country, some like heavy metal. Not everything is for everyone, so I understand why some people roll their eyes when I do comedy. But I’m established as what I am. All it takes is one sentence from a promo delivered properly. I am a legitimate badass; that’s always there for me. I’m glad I can be on Raw and show a wider range.”
• WWE reportedly has sold around 36,800 tickets as of this past Thursday for this year’s SummerSlam event on August 21st in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that WWE officials are currently considering plans for Edge vs. Seth Rollins to be one of the potential matches at the event.
• WWE also reportedly has sold around 9,529 tickets as of this past Thursday for this year’s Money in the Bank event on July 18th in Forth Worth, Texas, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• This past Sunday’s Hell in a Cell 2021 event reportedly had set a new WWE record, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this was the first time in WWE history that a WWE pay-per-view event featured more women’s matches (4) than men’s matches (3).
• WWE officials reportedly still do not have any plans for Brock Lesnar to make an appearance nor challenge Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship at this year’s SummerSlam event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In regards to this year’s upcoming WWE Draft, Ringside News reported that WWE officials also currently do not have any draft related plans for Lesnar as well.
• Fightful Select reported that WWE had restructured several of their talent contracts throughout the first half of this year. It was reported that Jeff Hardy’s contract was among those that were restructured and his contract is currently expected to expire either at the end of 2022 or early 2023.

AEW

• AEW reportedly is currently expected to make a new announcement soon regarding this year’s All Out event on September 5th in Chicago, Illinois, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of around 950 for this past Saturday’s AEW Dynamite show in Daily’s Place, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 2,600 tickets for their July 7th AEW Dynamite show in Miami, Florida as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. AEW reportedly also has sold around 4,150 tickets for their July 14th AEW Dynamite show in Cedar Rapid, Texas and around over 3,900 tickets for their July 28th AEW Dynamite show in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• A recent episode of the Rasslin with Brandon F. Walker podcast had AEW CEO Tony Khan as the guest and one of the topics discussed included his thoughts on working with Sting in AEW. Khan stated “Sting, who is very much a star of today… I’ll be honest, I don’t know how you could screw it up with Sting. Because I’ve been working with Sting now for the last seven months. This is the easiest, greatest man that I have ever known. And he wanted to work! He wasn’t looking for a $20 bajillion either, I’ll be honest with you. He would be very useful to any wrestling company in the world, and he wanted to do stuff. And he’s at TV every week! He’s a huge part of our roster. So, I count him as a star of the present. Sting hadn’t wrestled a match in many years and this year he came back and wrestled two great matches and two very different kinds [of matches]. He’s very much proved he’s still a star of the present.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• Mark Sterling filed a trademark for “Mark Sterling” on June 22nd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the USPTO.
• During a recent interview with The Wrestling Perspective podcast, Joey Janela revealed that the reason he has not wrestled in AEW nor GCW in recent weeks is due to him currently dealing with a concussion-related injury. Janela stated “I’ll be coming back soon. I’m dealing with an injury right now, a little concussion deal. Shit happens, everyone knows that, it’s wrestling. All sports, everyone gets concussions. I’ll be cleared from that in the coming weeks, maybe the coming weekend. I’ll be good and hopefully doing AEW stuff soon. Things were about to pick up for me right before [the concussion].” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Other Wrestling

• This past Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling Impact! reportedly drew 111,000 viewers and a 0.03 key demographic rating on AXS TV, according to Wrestlenomics. Brandon Thurston reported that this past week’s episode generated the lowest key demographic viewership of the year for an Impact show.
• Fightful Select reported that Impact officials currently have plans in place for at least two surprise debuts at next month’s Slammiversary event. It was reported that one of the surprise talents is also under contract with another company while the other was released by WWE earlier this year. It was also reported that Impact officials also currently have plans for their Knockouts division to be given a “reinvigoration” starting this July.
• Impact recently announced the full schedule of programming for their themed “Wrestle Week” on AXS TV as part of their promotion for this year’s Slammiversary event. Wrestle Week will take place from July 12-17 on the network.
• Ring of Honor recently announced that the winner of this year’s Survival of the Fittest tournament will receive a title shot for the ROH World Championship at their Best In The World 2021 event on July 11th in Baltimore, Maryland.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that former WWF and WCW wrestler Paul Orndorff is currently suffering from dementia. Meltzer reported that Orndorff’s son recently posted a video on YouTube that revealed his father is currently in a poor physical state and is also suffering from memory loss issues.
• Stardom reportedly saw around a 10% increase in subscriptions for their Stardom World streaming service this past week, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Stardom World’s subscription base has doubled since Bushiroad’s purchase of Stardom in late 2019. Meltzer also reported that the service is currently expected to generate around $1 million in profits for Stardom this year.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling officials reportedly have recently finalized their plans for this year’s G-1 Climax tournament, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that these plans included this year’s tournament taking place from September to October and the full list of competitors set to compete for it.
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 403 for their Kizuna Road 2021 event on June 23rd in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• TheCubsFan reported that Lucha Libre FMV has until the end of this month to officially serve a lawsuit to Lucha Libre AAA or file an official reason why they have yet to do so to the lawsuit’s presiding court in the United States. It was reported that if Lucha Libre FMW fails to do so in time, then their lawsuit against AAA will be dismissed. Lucha Libre FMW is currently suing AAA over allegations of contract breaching in regards to their broadcasting rights for AAA events in the U.S.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that data firm Nielsen Holdings will be rolling out a new update to their ratings system within the near future for television shows to include viewership from streaming services. Meltzer reported that the current split for television shows consumption in the United States this year is around 64% from television, 26% from streaming, and the rest from “other” which is a mixture of other content provider services. In regards to notable streaming services, Meltzer reported that Netflix and YouTube are both at 6% each for total television viewing this year so far, followed by Hulu at 3%, Amazon Prime at 2%, and Disney+ at 1%.
• Sportico reported that a jury recently ruled against Booker T in his lawsuit against Activision regarding allegations of copyright infringement. Booker T claimed that his wrestling and comic book G.I. Bro character’s likeness was used without permission for the Prophet character in Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops IV game.